Taliban strikes Kabul airport with multiple blasts, 7 dead

Taliban insurgents stormed the Kabul international airport that houses a NATO headquarters setting off multiple explosions. Afghan forces reported the seven heavily-armed insurgents had been killed following a fierce gun battle.

Afghan officials announced that the insurgents had been
neutralized a few hours after the siege began at around 4:30am
local time (24:30 GMT) on Monday.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in an explosives-laden
van, and five others took up positions in a building under
construction next to the international airport, Interior Ministry
spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi said. The remaining insurgents then
engaged in a fierce gun battle for several hours before being
killed by security forces.

The area was quickly sealed off by security forces, and
helicopters patrolled the area. Local residents said they heard
at least a dozen explosions coming from the military section of
the airport. They described hearing rocket-propelled grenade
blasts along with automatic weapons fire, AP reported.

“It started just after
dawn prayers and I counted about a dozen explosions, mostly RPG
fire, coming from the airport,”one resident told AP.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was
part of a “spring offensive” they pledged last month to launch on
alliance military bases and diplomatic centers.
"Today... there was a massive attack on the foreign military side
of Kabul airport," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid
said in a text message sent to reporters. "The enemy has
suffered major casualties," he added, although no military
casualties have yet been reported.

Embassies in Kabul were put on
lockdown shortly after the attacks began, with several Western
diplomatic missions sounding emergency alerts.

The so-called ‘spring offensive’ has seen an increase in attacks
on alliance forces. In May, Afghan security forces battled
Taliban insurgents in the center of Kabul following a massive
blast.

US forces are scheduled to fully withdraw in 2014, when they will
hand over security responsibilities to the Afghans. Concerns have
been voiced that the Afghan forces are ill-prepared and too few
in number to defend against the Taliban insurgency.